


Goodbye, Tamika

by verboseDescription



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Episode 46: Parade Day, Gen, She is wise for her age, Tamika thinks about her revolution, The Librarians - Freeform, post episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 13:52:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1552745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verboseDescription/pseuds/verboseDescription
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All she had wanted was a little help, but apparently that was too much to ask for. Her mother used to warn her that courage disappears when you age, so your body can make room for more worry. She sees the people looking at her and understands. They are not like her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye, Tamika

            Around her are her classmates and they look so ferocious and brave and she is proud. There are adults, they look meeker then she ever thought was possible. They do nothing. Their eyes are wide and they stare. They look hopeful, as if they think Tamika has some sort of trick up her sleeve and will save herself from Strexcorp.

            She does not. She cannot fight.

            Tamika is still just a child. Strexcorp is still an all powerful company.

            As the cuff her, she can hear the sound of the weather playing on. She doesn’t question it. Everyone always listens to Cecil, even runaway preteen girls.

            She wonders if he’s as disappointed as she is. She wants to tell him that it will be alright in the end.

            This is a fight that has happened before.

 

            She can hear Cecil’s voice as if it’s floating through the air and her book is taken from her. She mourns the loss of her novel as if she lost a hand.

            In the Library, there are many books. Some of them are about the history of Night Vale, long before paper and pens were outlawed.

            These books are what make Librarians so dangerous. It is the faith in their words that makes the Librarians what they are.

            She can hear them arguing about what they should do with her and Tamika wonders if she’s as dangerous as a Librarian now. She’s not worried. This is a story that has been around since the beginning of the town.

 

            It goes like this:

            The people live in peace with a power so horrible they know that their town will be fine. Strangers come. No one likes them. Sometimes, it is not a stranger, but every time, the ones who are looking see what will come next.

            The strangers are afraid of anyone who is not them. They try and make the townspeople into clones of them and everyone dies.

            Not physically, of course. Bodies are too important to litter around. Mainly, they are maimed.

            Sometimes, they burn the books. Sometimes, people hide the books. Sometimes, people fight back. One time, the librarians became monsters to protect their books. They summon gods, who become so well known in the eyes of the townspeople that they become neighbors, and fight with all their knowledge. They become the guardians of The Story.

            Tamika is part of that Story now. She hasn’t read it yet, but she knows the characters. The Voice, the Outsider, and the Intern. The Librarian, the Angels Erika and the Old Woman.

            She is The Lost Child. She remembers other times, when she was taken from different parents and did different things, but she does not know if she has read them, or if the Story has truly taken root in her head, as the Librarian Doris said it would, and she is all the missing children who have found out _so much_ and have fought back.

            What she knows is this: her eyes are the ancient eyes of someone who has been a child all her life.

 

            Rebecca is crying. Tommy’s tapping with his foot and while it is Morse code, all he is saying is _“help me, help me.”_ Tamika can do nothing.

            She’s just a child. All she knows how to do is read and fly helicopters. She's nothing compared to Strexcorp, and she can't fight them off like the Librarians.

            What can she do?

            She let them down.

            She always does.

            She always gets taken by _someone_.

            But, of course, her role is important—more important this time around, Doris claims—so she fights as she always fights; like a child with a computer for a brain throwing a tantrum.

            _What do we do?_ Maria asks. She can’t speak, of course—Strexcorp took away their vocal cords to insure no plotting took place—but she can still tap out a message.

            _What_ can _we do?_ Tamika replies. _They have taken everything from us._

_No_ Sachiel disagrees. _They did not take you._

There is still a radio on, Tamika realizes. Cecil is crying out, wondering on behalf of Tamika—Why didn’t they do anything? They were the adults. They should have been looking out for her.

            Tamika realizes that they were all looking at her like she was a hero. They still were.

            She had never been a hero before.

            _I’ll think of something_ Tamika says, because there’s more to the Story then just accepting the ending you know you will have.

            _You always do_ Ariel means to be encouraging. She is. Tamika always fights for the sake of others. Cecil is still talking on the radio, but now Strexcorp employees are complaining about “that angry gay guy” and wondering where the radio is. They don’t know that the Voice is always heard. Even by the people who do not want to hear it.

            “I can’t believe there’s all this fuss over a little girl,” A Strexcorp employee with a pimple on his nose says, “I can’t believe that we still have to watch them. Didn’t Carl give them the drug?”

            “Not yet,” a woman says, “He will be here soon. It’s a bit of a drive from Desert Bluffs, after all.”

            The children immediately tense up. They don’t know the Story like Tamika does, but everyone knows Desert Bluffs. They are not supposed to be part of the Story. They have their own Script.

            “Just a few more minutes, Bill,” another man reassures the man with a pimple on his nose, “A few more minutes and these kids will just be more faceless orphans.”

            The radio cuts out. For a moment, there is complete silence. Then, Tamika screams. It is silent and yet so loud, just like a Librarian.


End file.
